WHO: Ebola Outbreak Is International Public Health Emergency

The World Health Organization declared an international public health emergency Friday over the Ebola outbreak in western Africa that has killed almost 1,000 people. The outbreak of the deadly virus is “extraordinary event” and a public health risk to other countries, it said.

"The possible consequences of further international spread are particularly serious in view of the virulence of the virus," the organization said in a statement after a meeting of top officials from affected countries. "It was the unanimous view ... that the conditions for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) have been met," it said. Two American aid workers who contracted Ebola in Africa were still being treated in the United States on Friday. An elderly missionary became the first Ebola patient to arrive in Europe for treatment early Thursday after Spain's government flew him back from Liberia.